The rut was over ... there was a full moon ... there’s too many acorns ... there’s not as many hunters out there. There’s been a lot of reasons tossed around as to why this year’s Missouri firearms deer season was so lackluster, and every one of them likely contributed in at least some way.
At the end of the 11-day season, which closed Tuesday, hunters managed to kill 178,936 deer. That’s down about 11% compared to last year’s season, when 200,738 deer were killed. It’s also the lowest season harvest since 2014.
Locally, every county was down significantly compared to last year.
In Scott County, 453 deer were harvested this year compared to 514 last year.
Mississippi County, hunters killed 184 deer, which was the same number as last year.
In New Madrid County, there were 183 deer harvested, slightly down from last year when 212 deer were harvested.
In Stoddard County, the season harvest was 1,155 deer. That’s worse than the 1,264 taken there last year.
In Dunklin County, hunters killed 281 deer, just a little short of last year’s 310.
Butler County hunters tagged 916 deer, which lags behind the 1,568 from a year ago.
In Cape Girardeau County, hunters killed 2,076 deer this year compared to 2,083 last year.
Bollinger County had 2,811 deer taken this season compared to 3,035 last year.
In Carter County, hunters killed 1,006 deer compared to 1,731 last year.
In Ripley County, 1,922 deer were taken, well short of the 3,090 taken in 2018.
Wayne County had 2,250 deer taken this season compared to 3,464 hunters tagged there during the 2018 season.
The top counties in the state this year were Franklin with 4,008, Texas with 3,734 and Callaway with 3,369.
Six accidents were recorded during the season.
With the close of the firearms deer season, Missouri’s archery season has opened again. Bowhunters have until Jan. 15 to use any permits they still have.